Tens of thousands of Chilean students demand educational reform

Tens of thousands of Chilean students demand educational reform

2011-07-01 07:50:03 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANTIAGO (BNO NEWS) -- Tens of thousands of students and teachers on Thursday marched in the Chilean capital urging the government of President Sebastián Piñera to reform the country's public education system, el Financiero newspaper reported.

According to organizers, more than 100,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Santiago. Police, however, estimated that 80,000 people participated in the demonstration. Local media said it was the largest demonstration in the country's political history since the end of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

Although the demonstration was mainly peaceful, a group of young people with their faces covered threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police. They retaliated with water cannons and tear gas, while other police officers on horseback clashed with demonstrators.

The president of the Student Federation of the University of Chile, Camila Vallejo, said the mobilization has now matured into a political movement. A group of opposition political leaders, union leaders and civil servants also joined the march.

The conservative government of President Piñera has rejected the students' demands. Students have been protesting this year, demanding an end to profiteering in education and increased public support.

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